Engine-indicator for steam-vessels



(No Model.)

W. E. HADLOOK. ENGINE INDICATOR FOR STEAM VESSELS.

No. 453,696. Patented June 9, 1891.

lUiviTnn STaTns PATENT OFFICE.

"WILLIAM E. HADLOGK, OF WENHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

ENGlNE lNDlGATOR' FUR STEAM-VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 453,696, dated June 9,1891.

Application filed November 14, 1839. Serial No. 330,294. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. HADLOCK, of l v enham, county of Essex,and State of llfassachnsetts, have invented an Improvement inEngine-Indicators for Steam-Vessels, of which the following description,in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to an indicator for steam-vessels by which themovement of the engine and direction of the movement may be indicated ata distant point-as, for exam ple, in the pilot-house of the vessel-sothat the pilot may know positively whether or not the signals to theengineer have been properly understood and responded to.

In another application, Serial N 0. 292,597, filed by me December 4,1888, l have shown and described an indicator for the same purpose asthat forming the subject of this invention, in which anelectrically-operated indicating-instrument in the pilot-house isconnected by an electric circuit with the engine and controlled bycircuit-closers operated by a cam or projection carried by theengineshaft. it is in some cases desirable to operate thecircuit-closers by some other part of the engine than the shaft, as thelatter moves at great speed and consequently subjects thecircuit-closers or part that is employed to act directly upon themtosevere shocks, necessitating great care in construction to afiorddurability. In the present invention the circnit-closers by which theindicating-instrument is controlled are operated by some reciprocatin gpart of the engine, preferably the valve-rod, which has a comparativelyslow movement which is very slow near the end of its stroke, so that ifthe circuit-closers be engaged and operated by the valve-rod or asuitable arm or projection connected therewith they will have acomparatively easy and slow movement, and may thus be of comparativelydelicate construction without impairing their durability. As themovement of the valve-rod is the same substantially whether the engineis running forward or backward, there is in accordance with thisinvention a second circuit-controller provided, which is operated bysome part of the reversing-gear, and thus directs the current properlyto the indicating-instrument to cause the latter to give differentindications when the engine is moving forward from those which are givenwhen it is moving backward. A revolutionconnter is also provided whichmay be thrown into operation at any time and at the end of a givenperiod of time will indicate the number of revolutions of theengine-shaft that have taken place in the period of time that haselapsed since the counter was thrown into operation.

Figure 1 represents in diagram a sufficient portion of the valve-gear ofthe engine to illustrate this invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe engine-indicator; Fig. 3, a front elevation of therevolution-counter, Figs. 2 and 3, having portions of the dial or frontplate removed to show the working parts, and also having the circuitsand their controlling devices shown in diagram; Fig. 4, a detail to bereferred to, showing a portion of the indicating-instrument; Fig. 5, adetail of the. circuit-closers, and Fig. 6 a detail of theindicating-instrument to be referred to.

The invention is shown as applied in connection with an engine of usualconstruction, the main shaft a of which is provided with eccentrics aoperating the usual link a which in turn operates the valve-rod b, andis shifted or reversed by an auxiliary engine comprising a cylinder 0,in which is operated a piston-rod 0 which is connected with a cross-head0 working on a guide d, and being connected by a pitman e wit-h one armof a lever e", the other arm of which is connected by a connecting-rod cwith the valve-gear.

link a so that the traverse of the piston in the cylinder 0 reverses theposition of the link a with relation to the valve-stem, and thusreverses the line of movement of the engine in the well-known manner.

Admission of steam to one or the other end of the cylinder 0 iscontrolled by a valve in the steam-chest f, said valve having a rod fconnected by suitable mcchanis m with a handlever f so that movement ofsaid hand-lever in one or the other direction causes the link of thevalve-gear to be reversed. Thus the link a and the entire train ofmechanism that h.s just been described as controlling its movementsterminating with the hand-lever f has its position reversed, accordingas the as the reversing valvegear, and it is obvious that any part maybe used to control the circuit-changer referred to, the choice dependinglargely on convenience of applying the circuit-changer in any particularcase. Such circuit-changer is shown is full lines, Fig. 1, at g, asapplied to one of the supports of the cross-head guide (1, in positionto be operated by the cross-head c and is shown in dotted lines at g inposition to be operated by the rock-shaft or hub portion of the lever 6The relation of the said circuit-changer to the indicating-instrumentcontrolled by it will be described later on in connection with thedescription of said instrument.

The valve-rod b has a reciprocating move ment, making a completeto-and-fro movement at each complete revolution of the engine, and inengines of the kind to which this apparatus will be commonly applied themain valve-rod has a uniform stroke, as the reversing-gear beforereferred to is always thrown from one to the other extreme position, thecut-0E of steam being controlled by another valve instead of by the mainslide-valve 0perated by the link-motion which directs the stem to one orthe other end of the cylinder.

The length of stroke of the valve and the valve-rod b with relation tothe other movements of the engine is comparatively short, and owing toits actuation from an eccentric on the main shaft its movement is mostrapid at the middle of its stroke and becomes very slow near the end ofits stroke, and for these reasons its movement may be veryadvantageously availed of to operate the circuit-closers by which theindicating-instruments are directly controlled, said circuit-closersbeing represented at h in position to be operated by a pin i, carried bya collar 1 that may be fastened upon the valve-rod b in the properposition to cause the said pin 11 (see Fi 5) to actuate thecircuit-closers at the end of the stroke of the valve. The collar 2' maybe made in two parts, or as a flexible strap, so that itean be securelyclamped upon the valve-rod without marring or requiring any machineworkupon the latter. The said pin 1' may simultaneously operate severalcircuitclosers placed in a gang or row, one only of which is shown at h,Fig. 1; but there being in fact three, as shown in Fig. 5, and at h h hin the diagram in connection with Figs. 3 and 4.

The indicator for showing backward or forward motion of the engine isrepresented in Fig. 2 and comprises two electro-magnets k placedopposite one another, the armatures m m of which are connected by a linka, which has a notch that engages a pin 0, projecting from an arm 0fixed upon the arbor 0 of a segmental gear 0 that meshes with a pinion 0on a shaft 0, connected with a pointer 0 Thus when one of the magnets 70or k is energized the pointer -0 is turned vin one direction, and whenthe other magnet is energized itis turned in the opposite direction fromthe position shown in Fig. 2, and the gearingis preferablysoproportioned that the attractive movement of the armature will produceabout a quarter-turn of the pointer tion of the magnet by which thepointer was 7 moved away from said position is removed, said centeringdevice thus constituting the retractor for the armatures m m of themagnets 70 W. The said device consist-s, essentially, of a cross-bar p,fixed upon the arbor 0 and provided atits ends with anti-friction rolls19 which are acted upon by long flexible springs p 10 which by theirpressure on said rolls tend to keep the crossbar 13 substantially inline with said springs, or in the position shown in full lines, Fig. 4,in which position the pointer 0 will be in normal or vertical position,as shown in Fig. 2. The rotation of "the arbor 0 turns the cross-bar pin one or the other direction and its movement in either directionstrains the springs 12 19 as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 4, so that saidsprings tend to turn the cross-bar to its full-line position as soon asthe force by which it is turned from said position is withdrawn. It willbe understood, however, that if the movement of the cross-bar 1) weresufficient to bring the line of pressure of the springs directly in linewith the arbor 0 the cross-bar 10 would be in a dead-center positionwith relation to said springs, so that they would not return it to itsoriginal position; and, further- 'more, it is obvious that the powerof'the springs to return the pointer tends to dimin- 1sh as theyapproach said dead-center position, although the force of the springsbe-.

comes greater as they are strained more and more in approaching saidposition.

In order to prevent the cross-bar from rcmaining in dead-center positionwith relation to the springs and to assist said springs as they beginthe return movement of the pointer,

one end of the cross-bar is provided with a laterally-projecting pin pand springs p" p are set to engage the said .pin before the crossbararrivesat dead-center position with relation to the springs (1 1), thepressure of the said springs 11 12 being then at about right angles tothe line of pressure of the springs p p.

In Fig. 4 the parts are represented in their normal position in fulllines and in dotted lines in the position assumed at the.end of themovement of the cross-bar in the direc tion of the arrow thereon, and itwill be seen that the cross-bar has slightly passed the dead centerposition with relation to the springs p 1), so that they would tend, ifanything, to turn the cross-bar still farther in the direction of thearrow, instead of turning it back to the full-line position in thedirection opposite the arrow. They act, however, nearly in line with thepivot and with but comparatively small leverage to turn the cross-bar.

- In coming to the dotted-line position, however, the pin 10 has engagedthe spring 12 and strained the same, so that it exerts a force withnearly maximum leverage, tending to turn the cross-bar from the dottedto the full line position in the direction opposite to the arrow, and itwill carry the said cross-bar in that direction far enough to bring itin the position in which the spring 19 p 'will have a strong tendency tocontinue the movement in the direction opposite the arrow. If thecrossbar had been turned originally in the other direction, thespring pwould have engaged the pin 19 and would act with a tendency to returnthe cross-bar to the position from which it was moved. By thisarrangement the pointer is promptly returned to normal position when theattraction of the magnet by which it was moved from the normal position'is withdrawn and is stopped in the normal position without vibratingacross said position.

The circuits of the magnets k are as follows: One terminal of eachmagnet is connected by wire 2 with one pole of the battery B, the otherpole of which is connected by wire 3 with the movable member of thecircuit-changer g, which is shown as a spring co-operating with twocontacts g g, and so constructed that the said movable member, which isshown as a spring, normally makes contact with one of saidcontact-pieces, as 9 and is disconnected from the other g but whenengaged by the movable portion of the reversing valve-gear of the engineit is disconnected from the contact 9 and pressed into electricalconnection with the contact g Thus when the reversing valve-gear of theengine is in one positionas, for example, for the engine to runforward-contact is made between the battery-wire 3 and the contact 9 butwhen in the other position assumed when the engine is running backwardthe battery-wire is in connection with the contact 9 The contact 9 isconnected by wire 4: with the other terminal of the magnet 70 than theone connected by wire 2 with the battery, and the contact 9 is connectedby wire 5 with the corresponding terminal of the magnet k, and the saidwires 4 5 include circuit-closers h h respectively, which are normallyopen, but are closed by the val ve-stern or other reciprocating part ofthe engine at the end of its stroke. hen the circuit-changer g is innormal position in contact with the piece g'-, closure of thecircuit-closer It produces no eflect on the magnet 70, as the saidcircuit is open bet-ween gand 9 but the closure of the circuit-closer72. which takes place at the same time, completes the circuit of themagnet 70 which circuit is connected at g g so that the magnet k isenergized and the pointer 0 moved from its normal position to the sidedesignated by the word forward, or any other mark indicating forwardmovement of the engine, and such movement of the pointer takes place ateach toand-fro movement of" the valve-stem b or other reciprocating partof the engine, thus showing the direction of the movement of the engineand also the frequency of rotation of the main shaft of the engine. If,however, the engine is reversed, the circuit-changer will be connectedat g and disconnected at g and simultaneous closures of thecircuit-closers h It will produce no effect in the circuit of the magnetk but will complete the circuit of the magnet 70, thus producingcorresponding movements of the pointer o in the direction to indicatebackward movement of the engine. The movement of the pointer 0 thusindicates the direction of movement of the engine-shaft, and also thefrequency or rapidity of its rotations; but in order to determine therapidity of movement without actual watching the lapse of time andcountingthe number of movements of the pointer 0 an additionalrevolutionconnter is provided, as shown in Fig. 4, consisting of anelectro-magnet r and armature r therefor, the lever of which is providedwith a pawl r co-operating with a ratchet r on a shaft provided with apointer 0 that moves over a suitably-graduated dial.

The circuit of the magnet '1' may include the battery B or any othersuitable battery, being shown in this instance as having one terminalconnected by wire 7 with one pole of the battery, the other pole ofwhich is connected by wire 8 with one member of a circuit-closer h theother member of which is connected by wire 9 with the other terminal ofsaid magnet r. Thus each closure of the circuit-closer k produced by themovement of the valve-stem or other reciprocating part of the engine,causes the magnet r to be energized and the pointer '1 to be advancedone step. Thus the operator by closing the circuit of the magnet rby theswitch S or other suitable device and observing the time of the firstmovement by a clock can at the end of any desired interval of timeobserve directly bymeans of the pointer 0' and its dial the number ofrevolutions of the shaft that have taken place since therevolution-counter or number-indicator was thrown into operation.

I claimr 1. The combination, with a steam-engine, of anindicating-instrument comprising an elcctro-magnet, a circuit-closer incircuit with said magnet, and a projection on the valvestem of saidengine for operating the circuit closer, substantially as described. I

2. The combination of an indicator dial and pointer with twoelectromagnets and armatures therefor, a link connecting said armatures,and a segment engaged with said link and meshing with the pinion on thepointer-arbor, substantially as described.

3. The combination of an indicator dial and pointer with twoelectro-magnets and armatures therefor, a link connecting saidarmatnres, and a segment engaged with said link and meshing with thepinion on the segment for limiting the movement of said point-er,substantially as described.

pointer-arbor, and stop projections on said 4. The combination of anindicator dial and pointer with two electro-magnets and WILLIAM E.HADLOCK.

Witnesses:

J os. P. LIVERMORE, J AS. J. M LoNnY.

